Coming off a 15-2 win and two three-run homers from Jocelyn Erickson, No. 6 Florida had an opportunity to sweep its third SEC opponent of the season on Sunday afternoon.
From the start, it looked like the Gators were going to do just that. The first batter, Taylor Shumaker, doubled to left field and eventually scored off of Erickson’s RBI single.
However, Keagan Rothrock’s no-hitter from Friday ended in the second inning before she allowed a run in the third. But that did not stop UF, which scored a combined five runs throughout the fourth and fifth innings.
Leading the way was Kendall Grover, who drove in three runners with a double in the fifth. The senior also accumulated one run in the fourth off of Madison Walker’s double.
Ultimately, Florida (40-5, 14-4 SEC) won the game 6-1 and swept the series against South Carolina (23-20, 3-12 SEC) Sunday afternoon at Beckham Field at Carolina Softball Stadium.
Rothrock reverted to her shutdown form after the third inning, as she didn’t allow another run, including a 1-2-3 fifth inning. The junior improved to 21-4 on the season with yet another pitching victory.
Head coach Tim Walton pulled her with one out left in the sixth inning, and Olivia Miller came on in relief.
Despite Miller allowing two singles to start the final inning, the game ended on back-to-back fielder’s choices, including a double play to close it out.
On the batting front, Erickson continued her strong play, going 2-for-3 at the plate with one run scored. Overall, the senior catcher finished the series with seven RBIs and four runs.
Shumaker hit 2-4 overall from the leadoff spot, ending her series with four runs, including the opening one today.
Once again, UF was valiant at the plate, accumulating a .323 batting average. Meanwhile, UF’s fielding went a perfect 1.000, and six Gators had multiple putouts.
For the Gamecocks, starting pitcher Jori Heard had another rough game after taking Saturday’s loss, where she allowed four earned runs. The senior took another loss, surrendering four earned runs again. Head coach Ashley Chastain replaced her with Nealy Lamb in the fifth inning.
South Carolina also struggled offensively, going 6-for-24 at the plate for a .250 batting average. Furthermore, it went 0-for-9 when runners were in scoring position.
The Gators return home to Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium on Wednesday to take on Florida Gulf Coast University (15-25). The game will be at 6 p.m.
Contact Colby Kistner at ckistner@alligator.org. Follow him on X @colbykistner22.
Colby is a junior sports journalism student in his first semester with the Alligator covering golf. He has experience covering Buchholz and Santa Fe High School sports. He also worked in UF's innovation center where he wrote and created radio content for WRUF. He is an avid hockey fan with his teams being the Seattle Kraken and Florida Panthers. He is looking to minor in business administration.
